Elias Says...

NBA

Hibbert

Hibbert's got the touch for Indiana as Pacers beat Heat

From Elias: Roy Hibbert scored 29 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, leading the Pacers to a 97-93 victory over the Heat to even the Eastern Conference Finals at one game apiece. Hibbert shot 66.7 percent from the floor (10 for 15) while making 90.0 percent of his free throws (9 for 10). It's been over twenty years since a team's starting center shot at least 65 percent from the floor (minimum 10 FGA) and 90 percent from the line (minimum 10 FTA) in a playoff game. On May 17, 1993, in a loss to the Bulls, the Cavaliers' Brad Daugherty also shot 66.7 percent from the floor (8 for 12) and 90.0 percent from the free-throw line (9 for 10).

From Elias: LeBron James committed two costly turnovers in the final minute of the Heat's loss to the Pacers, marking the second time in James' career that he turned the ball over twice in the last 60 seconds of a game (regular season or postseason). The only other such game before tonight was November 19, 2008 at Detroit.

From Elias: Each member of Indiana's starting five reached double-digits in points in the Pacers' 97-93 victory. The Pacers' starting lineup contributed 94.8 percent of Indiana's scoring tonight (92 of the 97 points). That's the second-highest percentage of points scored by a team's starters in a playoff game this season. On April 20, the Celtics' starters scored 94.9 percent (74 of 78) of the team's points in a loss to the Knicks.

MLB

Sanchez

Sanchez dominant in Detroit

From Elias: Anibal Sanchez went the distance in Detroit tonight, striking out 12 batters while allowing only one hit, a ninth inning single to Joe Mauer, in a 6-0 victory for the Tigers over the Twins. Tonight was the second time in Sanchez's career that he struck out at least 11 batters while allowing fewer than two hits in a complete game shutout; Sanchez K'd 11 hitters in a one-hit shutout for the Marlins in Pittsburgh on September 10, 2011.

Only four other pitchers since 1900 have thrown complete game shutouts with no more than one hit allowed and more than 10 strikeouts for multiple teams. The others to do so are Randy Johnson, Mike Mussina, Hideo Nomo, and Nolan Ryan (Ryan did so for four teams - the Mets, Angels, Astros, Rangers).

From Elias: Joe Mauer's single was the only hit for the Twins tonight, marking the third time in his career that Mauer had one base hit and his teammates had none. That's tied for the most such "one-hitters" among active players. Jerry Hairston Jr. and Michael Young also have played three games in which they got their team's lone hit in a one-hitter.

From Elias: Mike Carp hit a three-run homer off Justin Masterson to snap an 0-for-21 skid, while helping the Red Sox to an 8-1 victory over the Indians. The only other player this season to end a hitless at-bat streak of at least 20 at-bats with a home run was Adam Dunn, who homered on April 21 to break his streak of 31 hitless AB's. Prior to Carp's home run in the second inning, Justin Masterson had not surrendered an extra-base hit since May 3. Masterson's streak of 104 consecutive at-bats without allowing an extra base hit is the longest such streak for any pitcher this season.

From Elias: Chris Young hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the 9th inning of the Athletics' 6-5 victory over the Astros. Young is the 10th different Oakland player with a go-ahead home run in the 9th inning or later since the start of the 2012 season, most in the majors over that span.

Including tonight, Young has four go-ahead homers in the ninth inning or later since the start of the 2012 season, tied with Adam Jones for most in the majors over the span.

From Elias: Jordan Zimmermann allowed two runs over seven innings tonight in a 5-2 victory for the Nationals over the Phillies. Dating back to last season, Zimmermann has allowed no more than three earned runs in any of his last 15 starts. That's the second-longest such streak for any active starting pitcher; Clayton Kershaw has allowed three earned runs or fewer in each of his last 22 starts. The last Nationals/Expos pitcher with a streak of 15 such starts was Pedro Martinez, who had 17 consecutive starts with three earned runs or fewer spanning the 1996-1997 seasons.

From Elias: Sean Nolin allowed seven hits and six runs for the Blue Jays in his MLB debut, taking the loss in the Orioles' 10-6 victory. Nolin is the second pitcher this season to allow at least six runs in his major league debut while recording fewer than six outs. The other was the Padres' Burch Smith, who was pulled in the second inning after giving up six runs on May 11 in Tampa Bay. The only other Blue Jays pitcher to allow at least six runs without completing at least two innings in his major league debut was Jeff Ware, who gave up seven runs to the White Sox in his MLB debut in September 1995.

From Elias: Tyler Chatwood pitched six shutout innings to earn the win in the Rockies' 5-0 victory in San Francisco. This is the second time in the last seven days that Chatwood defeated the Giants in a game started by Tim Lincecum, having also won on May 18 in Denver. No other pitcher has earned a win in consecutive starts when opposed by Tim Lincecum each time.

From Elias: Jeff Keppinger had two hits in extra innings, including a walk-off single, in the White Sox' 4-3 win over the Marlins. Keppinger is the third White Sox player in the last 20 seasons (1994-2013) with multiple hits in extra innings - including a walk-off RBI for Chicago - after going hitless with at least two at-bats in the first nine innings. A.J. Pierzynski and Scott Podsednik are the other White Sox players to have a game of that fashion over that span, both doing so in the 2009 campaign.

From Elias: Lance Berkman's three-run homer in the third inning broke a 2-2 tie in Seattle, leading to a 9-5 victory over the Mariners. Berkman, who had never gone deep at Safeco Field, has now hit home runs in 34 different stadiums, making him one of eight active players to homer in at least 34 different ballparks (Berkman hit his first home run at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego in July 1999). Adrian Beltre is tops among active players, having homered at 39 different stadiums.

From Elias: Scott Feldman homered in the second inning to give the Cubs an early lead before allowing five runs in the fourth inning; the Cubs went on to lose to the Reds, 7-4. Feldman is the first pitcher this year to homer in a game in which he took the loss. Six pitchers had such a game last season, including two Cubs - Paul Maholm (June 23 at Arizona) and Travis Wood (August 28 vs Milwaukee).

Feldman is the third Cubs starting pitcher to homer this month, joining Jeff Samardzija (May 15 vs the Rockies) and Travis Wood (May 19 vs the Mets). The last time three different Cubs pitchers hit home runs in the same calendar month was August 1961 - the three Chicago hurlers to go deep that month were Jack Curtis, Bob Anderson, and Don Cardwell.

From Elias: Lance Lynn earned the win in the Cardinals' 7-0 victory at Dodger Stadium, improving his record to 7-1 this season and 26-9 in his career. Only four other active pitchers won at least 26 of their first 35 career decisions - Tim Hudson (27-8), Jon Lester (27-8), Alfredo Aceves (26-9), and Ivan Nova (26-9).

From Elias: Alex Gonzalez's two run double made the difference in the Brewers' 2-1 victory over the Pirates. Prior to tonight, Milwaukee had lost its last six games decided by one run (dating back to April 24), while Pittsburgh had won its previous six one-run games (dating back to May 12).

NHL

Neal

Neal's hat trick helps Penguins finish off Senators

From Elias: James Neal scored three goals as the Penguins wrapped up their series against the Senators with a 6-2 victory in Game 5. It was only the fourth time in the last 16 playoff years that an NHL player recorded a hat trick in a series-clinching win by his team. The others were by Brett Hull in 2002 (Detroit at Vancouver), Johan Franzen in 2008 (Detroit at Colorado) and Patrick Kane in 2009 (Chicago vs. Vancouver). The last time the Penguins had that happen was in 1996, when Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr each scored three goals as Pittsburgh eliminated the Rangers in Game 5 of their second-round series.